MD Help with school list? ~3.7/519

[Kpw101]

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[GrapesofRath]

You have a lot of schools where your MCAT is above the 90th(especially the ones that get >10k apps) and the top 20s you listed. NJ is a competitive state RWJS in particular turns away a fair number of high stat IS apps every single year. Ideally you want more "in between" per se. Schools like Georgetown and Penn St where your MCAT puts you outside the range they tend to target aren't really going to do a lot for you

I'd go through MSAR and swap out the lower tier types mentioned above for at least a half dozen or so OOS friendly schools with an MCAT median around 34-35(ie Miami Ohio St Emory etc). That'll easily put you in a more ideal spot. I don't know anybody who screens out a 127 subsection: if you don't have solid research experience that will be a bigger handicap for these top 20 caliber schools on by your list

 

[kb1900]

You have a lot of schools where your MCAT is above the 90th(especially the ones that get >10k apps) and the top 20s you listed. NJ is a competitive state RWJS in particular turns away a fair number of high stat IS apps every single year. Ideally you want more "in between" per se. Schools like Georgetown and Penn St where your MCAT puts you outside the range they tend to target aren't really going to do a lot for you

I'd go through MSAR and swap out the lower tier types mentioned above for at least a half dozen or so OOS friendly schools with an MCAT median around 34-35(ie Miami Ohio St Emory etc). That'll easily put you in a more ideal spot. I don't know anybody who screens out a 127 subsection: if you don't have significant research experience that will be a much bigger handicap for these top 20 caliber schools on by your list

not to derail this thread but where did u get that conclusion from/

 

[Kpw101]

bump anymore opinions? The thing I'm hearing is that schools might screen me out because my MCAT doesn't land within their range? Is this actually a common occurrence? Can I afford to switch out lower tiered schools for more competitive ones? Also I'll have research experience and most likely a letter from my PI. I'm not banking on a publication though; this will probably be a handicap for top 20 schools right?

 

[Goro]

I suggest:
Harvard
Wash U
Yale
Stanford
U Chicago
U Penn
U VA (maybe)
U MI (maybe)
U Colorado
U VM
U WI
Ohio State
Jefferson
U IA
UCSF
UCLA,
U Cincy
Miami
Albert Einstein
Tulane
Loyola
Emory
BU
USC/Keck
JHU
Mayo (both)
Pitt
Northwestern
NYU
Vanderbilt
Columbia
Sinai
Cornell
Duke
Case
Hofstra
Your state school

Hey guys!

 

[WedgeDawg]

You're going to have the best success with your state schools and mid tier schools and likely will have success with several top tier schools. I would build a solid mid-tier base along with your state schools and then add a lot of top tier schools. Your ECs aren't great, but they're certainly "acceptable". Here's what I would recommend:

RWJ, NJMS, Cooper - state schools, great
Rochester, Einstein, Hofstra, Emory, USC-Keck, Ohio State, maybe Dartmouth - solid mid-tier base

Top tiers you should target: Northwestern, Pitt, NYU, Sinai, Cornell, Columbia, Duke, Michigan. Yale and UCSF are likely to not be great choices due to the fact that your research experience is lacking. You are nearing the 10th percentile GPA for Harvard, Hopkins, and Stanford. I have no idea what Mayo likes, so go ahead and apply if you want, but don't expect anything. UCLA isn't a great option for you (neither is UCI for that matter).

What @GrapesofRath said regarding lower tier schools where you're above the 90th percentile is true - drop them in favor of mid tiers, but keep all 3 of your state schools anyway (always).

 

[Kpw101]

Thank you @Goro , @GrapesofRath , and @WedgeDawg . All my questions have been answered. Thank you for the time you guys spent putting those lists together!